King Kutter Quality

[countrybumpkin]

The blade could have been sold as a factory second originally.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Just reading about the problems in THIS thread alone, there must not be any quality control at king cutter, at all!

SR

 

[robertm]

View attachment 536938
Heres the pic...

Oooooh! Someone went on a bender. Maybe you should dabble in making some of those fancy architectural steel components. That flowing gentle bend is soothing.

 

[fried1765]

If they don't eventually respond that certainly says something about their customer service.
I tend to be like a dog with a bone on these things; I would be reaching out to their corporate office directly by phone/email/letter. You need to do what you feel comfortable with. Even an apology from them is worth it.

I did Exactly as you suggest.
Made several calls until I found the correct person.
They stepped right up and sent replacement tiller parts.
I have no real beef with KK.

 

[fried1765]

There's nothing wrong with that blade! It has a built-in crown angle for road maintenance! You must be very lucky as King Kutter normally charges extra for that feature.

On a more serious note, I was looking at a KK blade at TSC last fall and noticed one that had the vertical pivot tube welded on crooked as well.

Are you SURE KK is currently making blades for TSC.
I think TSC is using Tarter Gate as their blade supplier.

 

[The Deerslayer]

I did Exactly as you suggest.
Made several calls until I found the correct person.
They stepped right up and sent replacement tiller parts.
I have no real beef with KK.

Excellent :thumbsup: Glad it worked out for you.

 

[1M05]

Excellent :thumbsup: Glad it worked out for you.

.

Glad you had success. My experience is disappointing. I also won't work that hard to give someone my money when there are so many good manufactures to choose from. They should be calling me over and over to keep my business.

 

[Sonny580]

I bought a KK 72" tiller from TSC 15 or so years ago and it is still on everything original , tines/ gears/pto shaft/ etc. and it has always tilled our gardens MANY times per year.--gardens are total of 4 to 4 1/2 acres.
Started out with it on IH 404 tractor, depth set 1/2, then for several years it went on the Satoh 650-G tractor. The last two years it's on the IH 706 with the depth set at MAX. Maybe I just lucky, but this tiller has been great. thanks; sonny

 

[daugen]

Sometimes I think manufacturer's HP ratings are too aggressive; they want to fit their unit on the most tractors, and gosh some of those lightweight implements look like they will bend with not much effort. When I bought this farm, there was a bunch of old wrecked implements in
the tree line. I hauled them out, and found a KK rear blade bent into an amazing pretzel. Turns out the prior owner had a 50hp IH tractor and I bet that blade wasn't rated for half that. Almost every piece of steel was bent. Since you can't buy a rock in these parts, he must have hit a tree with some speed.

We do get what we pay for, but never should lower price give us broken welds, ridiculously poor QC like the OP is showing.

Btw, I've had paint sheet off an almost new LP mower. Bad prime job for sure. Dealer gave me a can of paint. That seems to be the fix.
Easier to weld and paint like crap and hand out cans of paint. I bought Extreme Duty blade and rear rake from Everything Attachments. Drove to the other side of NC to pick them up and meet Ted and Peanut. Their paint was thin and I have places where that paint is coming off too. It's always the prep they don't do right, paint won't sheet off if they do their job right... Don't these folks believe in primer? It seems an industry wide issue.

I always include KK in my research because I like the made in USA. I think Tartar and KK are in a big fight for the lower end implements with the Chinese imports. But would I use most KK equipment with my larger two tractors? No. It's why I bought Land Pride and ETA.
Seeing those bent up implements when I came here was a good education. And yes, of course you can wreck just about anything if you work hard at it.

I am reminded of the complaint on the TSC site where someone bought the same carryall as mine, which while very poorly welded, was clearly designed to support weight from above. One guy hooked up the end of a brand new carryall to a chain, the piece sticking out just like a set of forks, and tried to lift a stump out with it. What an utter idiot. Of course he bent the thing, it was never designed for that. So sometimes I wonder if stuff has really gotten abused and folks don't fess up. In the OP case, this was just poor manufacturing and what does not make us proud when we see the Made in USA label.

 

[fried1765]

Sometimes I think manufacturer's HP ratings are too aggressive; they want to fit their unit on the most tractors, and gosh some of those lightweight implements look like they will bend with not much effort. When I bought this farm, there was a bunch of old wrecked implements in
the tree line. I hauled them out, and found a KK rear blade bent into an amazing pretzel. Turns out the prior owner had a 50hp IH tractor and I bet that blade wasn't rated for half that. Almost every piece of steel was bent. Since you can't buy a rock in these parts, he must have hit a tree with some speed.

We do get what we pay for, but never should lower price give us broken welds, ridiculously poor QC like the OP is showing.

Btw, I've had paint sheet off an almost new LP mower. Bad prime job for sure. Dealer gave me a can of paint. That seems to be the fix.
Easier to weld and paint like crap and hand out cans of paint. I bought Extreme Duty blade and rear rake from Everything Attachments. Drove to the other side of NC to pick them up and meet Ted and Peanut. Their paint was thin and I have places where that paint is coming off too. It's always the prep they don't do right, paint won't sheet off if they do their job right... Don't these folks believe in primer? It seems an industry wide issue.

I always include KK in my research because I like the made in USA. I think Tartar and KK are in a big fight for the lower end implements with the Chinese imports. But would I use most KK equipment with my larger two tractors? No. It's why I bought Land Pride and ETA.
Seeing those bent up implements when I came here was a good education. And yes, of course you can wreck just about anything if you work hard at it.

I am reminded of the complaint on the TSC site where someone bought the same carryall as mine, which while very poorly welded, was clearly designed to support weight from above. One guy hooked up the end of a brand new carryall to a chain, the piece sticking out just like a set of forks, and tried to lift a stump out with it. What an utter idiot. Of course he bent the thing, it was never designed for that. So sometimes I wonder if stuff has really gotten abused and folks don't fess up. In the OP case, this was just poor manufacturing and what does not make us proud when we see the Made in USA label.

My implements are simply toys for me.
I don't need to buy the whiz-bang fancy stuff, I just want stuff that is solid, simple, and works.
In my opinion, KK implements are low cost, but sturdily built.
If you can park a Tarter Gate (TSC) implement beside a KK implement you will see a significant build quality difference.
The OP got a bad KK blade, but he bought it used, and probably at a very cheap price.
If I had bought that new, it would have gone back, and the credit card amount disputed if need be.
My minor new KK tiller issue was due to a part not properly fabricated.
I had to make several KK calls, but after I reached the upper management level, the problem was quickly resolved.
In my opinion: KK is the most bang you can get for the buck!

 

[daugen]

In my opinion: KK is the most bang you can get for the buck!

That sounds reasonable, there is always a curve of diminishing returns, where spending more doesn't get you much unless
the job requires it. I'm going to make some hills tomorrow with a 800 dollar ETA hiller/cultivator, not a 8000 dollar Sunflower...
I'm a play farmer too, but getting more serious each year.

If you earn your living with your implements, likely either you would have to be fairly gentle with KK or go up one level of beefiness to begin with. Lots of exceptions to it but I like looking at the weight of the implement. And for sure country of origin of the gearbox if it has one.
And I would take the hp rating of a foreign made gearbox and cut the power to it in half. Just don't overpower the implement. Stall first, bend and blow up later.

There's a shoe for every foot. And most of us are trying to hunt top value, sometimes in different price ranges, but still top value.
I saved every penny of my retirement and like you Fried I want the most bang for the buck too. I compare TSC, Agrisupply's brands, King Cutter and ETA's products all the time.

I always look for silver linings. I'm sorry sir that your backblade bent into a pretzel but just think, our product protected your valuable three point lift arms from bending. And when your gearbox exploded out the side, the chunks did not come forward at your tractor, just as designed. Gosh, that's great!

 

[bkrgi]

I'm surprised the OP is looking for anything from the manufacture...lets see...older rusting used implement that we have no clue how it was used nor how it came new. The jig could have been off or things got twisted in previous use at any rate the OP bought it as is where is and has to accept responsibility for buying it regardless.

It is one thing to post a pic and saying gee look at this just because but is entirely something else when your looking for restitution of some sorts considering it is far from NEW and bought used.

 

[daugen]

I'm surprised the OP is looking for anything from the manufacture..
It is one thing to post a pic and saying gee look at this just because but is entirely something else when your looking for restitution.

But he's not!! You're absolutely right if you want money from a company for a ten to twenty year old product you bought used.
Perhaps with the exception of it having a Takata air bag in it.........
I'll cut the blade off and weld it back on straight. Not a huge problem, I just think a "sorry, we'll try harder next time" from King Kutter wouldn't have been too much to ask. Shi.. err stuff happens. Acknowledge it and move on

 

[bkrgi]

I'm surprised the OP is looking for anything from the manufacture..
It is one thing to post a pic and saying gee look at this just because but is entirely something else when your looking for restitution.

But he's not!!....
I'll cut the blade off and weld it back on straight. Not a huge problem, I just think a "sorry, we'll try harder next time" from King Kutter wouldn't have been too much to ask. Shi.. err stuff happens. Acknowledge it and move on

He should not have even bothered the manufacture....he bought it used as is where is. The OP needs to be responsible for buying it period.. end of story.
And then the thread should have been about well looky here this thing is not straight so I'm going to cut it off and put it back together straight...done finish enjoy. From that everyone else can figure out whether the KK blade quality is worthy of there money or at least if buying new/used heads up check the straightness of such implements..but by no means should it start off as a bash of KK given the circumstances.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

He should not have even bothered the manufacture....he bought it used as is where is. The OP needs to be responsible for buying it period.. end of story.
And then the thread should have been about well looky here this thing is not straight so I'm going to cut it off and put it back together straight...done finish enjoy. From that everyone else can figure out whether the KK blade quality is worthy of there money or at least if buying new/used heads up check the straightness of such implements..but by no means should it start off as a bash of KK given the circumstances.

I have to agree with this one. OP finally admits he bought this thing used. So we have a used implement, no idea how old it was, or how it had been treated over the years. OP buys it in this condition, and has the nerve to expect KK to do something about it, or even care about his used implement.

Gee, I'm going to try that. Let's see, I'm going to go find a 10 year old car, then send the manufacturer of the car a mass amount of complaints and demands because the rear view mirror is crooked. And if they don't bow to my every whim, I'll come on the related forums and EXCORIATE them for their lack of quality.

Yup. I'm convinced. Totally legit.

 

[daugen]

I have to agree with this one.

You misquoted me, I did not post that.

And I think you're being a little harsh here and putting words in the OP's mouth.

 

[dragoneggs]

I have to agree with this one. OP finally admits he bought this thing used. So we have a used implement, no idea how old it was, or how it had been treated over the years. OP buys it in this condition, and has the nerve to expect KK to do something about it, or even care about his used implement.

Gee, I'm going to try that. Let's see, I'm going to go find a 10 year old car, then send the manufacturer of the car a mass amount of complaints and demands because the rear view mirror is crooked. And if they don't bow to my every whim, I'll come on the related forums and EXCORIATE them for their lack of quality.

Yup. I'm convinced. Totally legit.

I think you guys are totally mischaracterizing the OP here. He just pointed out an obvious manufacturing 'goof' and made the manufacturer aware. No response. As someone involved in manufacturing/selling hardware, I always respond to a customer regardless of whether it is a nit, nonsense, whatever. That is what customer support and developing a brand that people can trust. The OP did not expect anything but a reply. Addressing complaints whether absurd or not, goes a long way from letting something fester and grow a false narrative potentially. That's all.

I don't read more into the OP's posts here. He simply posted a pic showing shoddy workmanship. At least gives others some awareness when buying implements. A good thing.

 

[daugen]

Funny Mark, we were typing exactly the same thing at the same time. Yours got to the point faster than mine. I'm more longwinded...

Sometimes you don't know enough and you put things "out there" to get a reaction as a kind of sanity check on what is reasonable.
Now if this was "excoriation" I'd help heat the tar and feathers too...but let's be nice.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

I have to agree with this one.

You misquoted me, I did not post that.

And I think you're being a little harsh here and putting words in the OP's mouth.

I don't know how that happened. Was not my intent to misquote you. I simply clicked "quote" to the guy's post ahead of me.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

.

Glad you had success. My experience is disappointing. I also won't work that hard to give someone my money when there are so many good manufactures to choose from. They should be calling me over and over to keep my business.

Seriously?

Guy buys a used implement, and then expects KK to be calling him "over and over" to satisfy him?

For a used implement?

Try that with any other brand, see where it gets you. My advice would be to just let it go. Or learn to pay more attention to details when you're out shopping for these bargain "scores".

So how much did you pay for that USED implement anyway?

And the title is deliberately misleading. Should be "Hey look at the crooked used implement I just bought". Instead of a smear campaign against KK.